Jobs That Pay – Dog Walking

Hey, not all traditional jobs are poorly-paid and overworked. As I mentioned in my book on wealth, there are under-exploited niches where one can be successful as an entrepreneur. Marketwatch today ran an interesting article on a dog walker(!!!) who is raking in 6 figures working the equivalent of part-time.

Stewart says he could have grown his business into “a dog walking empire.” But he says “there’s a tipping point — where you manage people more and dogs less — and that’s not what I signed up for.”

He now has three employees who walk dogs for him, and he doesn’t plan to hire any more. He pays them a salary instead of an hourly wage and often works with them.

He charges customers $15 per walk — the going rate in Long Island City — and walks between 40 and 50 dogs every Monday through Friday, mostly between 11:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m.

He knows a solo dog walker in his neighborhood who makes $2,000 a week by working 35 to 40 hours a week. And he knows a dog walker with employees who makes $150,000 after paying his employees.

And Stewart says he makes about $110,000 a year — after paying his expenses and employees — while working 25 hours a week. “It’s full-time time pay for part-time work. I think everyone would want that,” he says, adding, “I’m doing something that I love and I have time to go to school at night.”

I’ve bolded key points of emphasis. This guy has done a great job following the rules in my book for starting up successful businesses.

He understood the market. NYC folks are busy and are willing to hire nannies, dog walkers, etc. to take care of their personal lives.

This is a small enough market (not a lot of prestige for dog-walkers) that someone can easily become super specialized and command top dollar (big fish in a small pond).

He figured out how to stand out as elite, by promoting his expertise and experience with dogs of all kinds.

His work was still paid on an hourly basis, but he removed part of those constraints by hiring others for some jobs and moving to more of a higher level coordinating, marketing, and managing role.

He had limited ambitions. He kept his business small-scale enough to be adequately profitable, rather than investing tons of money to become a commercial empire, with a higher chance of losing money and even failing.

He worked on what he knew and loved.

At least initially, he didn’t depend on his job for money (he worked as a bartender and waiter for a while).

He knew himself and had an endgame plan. He had an income level in mind at which he would be satisfied and spend extra hours on other pursuits.

One natural wacky extension of this principle that comes to mind is being a niche nanny-tutor combo to the very wealthy. Someone can bill himself as an Aristotle-like individual able to give kids the extra boost needed to get into the most elite schools, become well-rounded, and achieve success in life. For a high retainer of course! If you’re gunning for this position from early on in life, you can build a sample CV with a PhD in early childhood development, a bachelors or masters in education, empathy and skill with children (being female helps in this regard, for perception if nothing else), aptitude in art and music, and a track record of success (by babysitting and caring for family friends’ kids).

You can read about of other successful entrepreneurs and more tips on how to identify your strengths and build your own business with my book on wealth.